Clint and I on our bikes 

Very warm weekend

Well, it is officially summer here in Chemnitz, with temperatures reaching 91 degrees this weekend. Although it is a drastic jump from the 60's to 70's weather we have been experiencing the past few weeks, it is nice to finally say that it is summer. One that that is definitely misfortune is that there is not air conditioning pretty much anywhere. Most houses and apartments don't have it, including mine. Although, luckily, my apartment gets a lot of shade from the neighboring buildings so it stays pretty cool. Anyway, for those of you in Oklahoma complaining about having to leave your nice air conditioned homes to go into the heat, just imagine not having air conditioning at all. It's not so bad, you can definitely get used to it.

I love summer! 

Food for thought

Today I was reading out of the book, "Discovering God's Will For Your Life" by Sheila Walsh. In fact, we just finished the last chapter today in our English Ladies' Bible Study. It was a really great book and I enjoyed it a lot. It just got me thinking about life and the "race" that we are running.

In the first paragraph of the chapter it talks about a woman who had a redefining moment when she realized she didn't have to be the first or the best in order to win the prize of heaven. Instead, she was running along side other Christians and we are all supposed to help each other along the way. When we fall down, the rest can stop and help us up. When we stumble or are too weary, we can lean on each other. It reminds me of the song we sang in Vacation Bible School when I was a kid, "Roll the Gospel Chariot Along." Some of the words go like this... "Roll the gospel chariot along, and we won't tag along behind. If a sister's in the way, we will stop and pick her up, and we won't tag along behind. If the devil's in the way, we will run right over him and we won't tag along behind." It's kind of funny to think about, but so true. We are supposed to be helping each other when we fall by the side of the road.

I think in the modern times it is easy to get caught up in being the best, the first or the most successful. So many people try to be rich and successful and will do anything to get ahead of the rest. Isn't it wonderful to know that with God, we don't have to do it alone? We don't have to be the best, the first, the most successful or rich. We have God by our side helping us all the way as well as our brothers and sisters in Christ.

How wonderful it will be one day for all of us to reach the final goal of heaven and share the reward together for eternity with God!!!

Wedding planning

Wedding planning is so hard... especially when you are super busy. But, it just takes some self-discipline and a helpful fiance! :) Last night I was determined to just sit at home and finally decide on the music. I have been deliberating over it for at least 2 months and every time I tried to narrow it down, I ended up adding more songs to the list. Finally, I just sat Clint down and said, "Ok, if you don't like something just tell me and it is out." That helped a lot, seeing as though I pretty much liked all the songs on the list and was having a hard time narrowing it down. We had much success and the songs are now picked out. Now I just have to put them in the order I want them! We also picked out what kind of cake we wanted. My mom sent me some pictures from the lady who is doing the cake and we picked out the ones we liked the most. That is such a relief to be done with that. Now, on to the rest of the list!! It is only about a month and a half until we go to the States and then after that, time is going to fly by until our wedding! I can't believe it!

Clint and me on my birthday 

Information Meeting

Today we had our information meeting about the LST program. We had an amazing group of 45 people show up! Most of the people read an ad in the newspaper and some heard by word of mouth. I believe it was the biggest group they have ever had come to one of the information meetings. I met a lot of people and many of them signed up for appointments already. The LST team begins teaching tomorrow! Pray that they will have really good lessons and that the people will be interested in continuing the program.

My birthday present from Courtney 

I'm back

Hi there, I know you haven't heard from me in a while and you may have wondered where I have been. Well, I have no good excuses. I am really going to try harder to write more on this. Today we had an LST Team arrive from Oklahoma. There are 2 girls and 2 guys. We are excited to have them and hope that we will have a great turnout for the program. Tomorrow we are having an information meeting that we have been advertising for. There, the team will be able to make appointments with anyone who is interested to study English using the Bible through this program. Please pray that it goes well. We think we will have a large turnout due to a lot of calls from interested people. Well, I am going to keep this short, but I hope to keep you updated more.

My Niece

Ashlyn Denese Freeman

This is my niece! Isn't she beautiful? I already love her so much and I haven't even seen in person! I can't wait to see her this summer. It won't be long until I will get to hold her though! I can't believe it, but Clint and I are getting married in 116 days! We are flying to the States in 87 days! Wow, time sure is running out to get things taken care of. I know it will all come together though. I am so excited to get to see my niece though. :) Yay! Ok, well I don't have much time right now but I wanted to show you my cute niece!

People of Oklahoma Unite!

The OC group at ABSS

Ok, I'm a nerd for the title. I will admit that. This is a picture of all of us that have some connection with Oklahoma Christian and we all attended ABSS. From left to right/ back row: Ed Cantrell, Glenn Pemberton, Katie Kelly. Front row: Allison Hreczuch, Jim Dvorak, me, Clint Everhart. Even thought Katie didn't actually attend OC she is part of the HIM Program through OC. We had a good time at the seminar.

We returned home on Friday afternoon. On Saturday I went wedding dress shopping! It was a lot of fun. Pam, Courtney and Karen went with me. I found some really pretty dresses but I only got to go to two stores because they all closed by 1:00 PM. That's one weird thing about Germany. Their stores close at weird hours. You always have to check on times before going somewhere. I'm still trying to decide what I want to do about the dress. There were two that I liked a lot. There is still one dress that I saw online and I pretty much fell in love with it. The problem is if I have easy access to it, which so far is looking like there won't be. I know it will work out somehow and I will find a dress that I will absolutely love. I just realized also that as of Sunday, it will be 5 months till our wedding. Wow, I think it is going to go by so quickly and I just hope that I can get everything done before then. Well, I hope you all have a great weekend. Tomorrow I am going to a ladies retreat in Bacharach. I will be back on Saturday.

Sledding

Sledding

A couple of Saturdays ago several of us went sledding at Augustusburg. We had a really great time. Unfortunately, that was the day that I started to get pretty sick. I was feeling fine that afternoon, but by the evening I was feeling really bad. I tried to get some rest on Sunday because on Monday I was going to a seminar called ABSS or Advanced Bible Study Series in Gemuenden. So on Monday I left with Clint, Robert (one of the members from Chemnitz) and Allison from Dresden to the seminar. I steadily felt worse and worse as the day went on and Tuesday I felt possibly worse. But I tried hard to still participate in everything. In the afternoon I was able to get some sleep and that helped a lot so by Wednesday I was feeling a lot better. Jim Dvorak and Glenn Pemberton were there speaking and it was really great to see them. Also, another HIM worker, Katy, was there from France. I had a good time getting caught up with everyone. I also got to meet a lot of other people there. I had a good time despite the fact that I was sick half the time. Ed came on Thursday and was able to take us home on Friday.

On Sunday evening I got a call from my brother and sister-in-law, Jonathan and Lana. They had really great news to share with me. They are going to have a baby! They are due in October so when I go home this summer Lana should be big. I am so excited and blessed to become an aunt twice this year! In case you don't remember, my sister and brother-in-law, Doug and Amy are having a baby this month! She is due on March 30th! Please pray for them.

We Set The Date!

Well, Clint and I set the date for our wedding! We are getting married on August 6, 2005! We are so excited! Now we can really start making plans and getting things in order. There is so much to be done, but thankfully I have a great Mom who is helping me! Thanks Mom! Well, I don't have much time today but wanted to let everyone know. It seems it's the easiest way to let everyone know! I hope everyone is doing well. It snowed again today but not for long. Oh, on Tuesday Clint and I are going to Dresden and taking our engagement pictures. Amy Nickerson is going to do them for us! It should be a fun day! Well, everyone have a great day!

Pretty flowers

Flowers from Clint and Amanda and Andre

On Saturday our friends Amanda and Andre came over for lunch and brought the daisies for Karen and I. They are so pretty and I was excited to have flowers in my house. Then yesterday Clint decided to bring me yellow roses! They are beautiful so I wanted to take a picture of them!

Clint and his hockey stick

Clint playing in the snow with his hockey stick

Here is a view from in front of my apartment. you can see the Sullivan's house in the background. Clint also loves to play with his hockey stick in the snow. After he breaks the icicles off my apartment with his hockey stick, he plays with the ice and tries to shoot it over the fence or in the snow somewhere. He has had lots of fun with the snow.

The attack of the giant icicles!

Icicle that Clint found outside my apartment

I thought I would post some pictures to give you an idea of how much snow we have here. It basically snowed for over a week straight. Although there were days that it only snowed lightly and didn't really accumulate that much, there were a couple of days that it snowed heavily most of the day and it has been cold enough for it to stick around. In fact, it's still on the ground. I think it started snowing on the 22nd of January and it's still around! I guess to some people it's not that big of a deal, but growing up in Oklahoma, I guess I have never seen snow last that long! :)

Clint absolutely loves icicles and so he has a good time knocking them off of my apartment. He happened to find this huge one right above my front door. Good thing he found it before it found me! But it is really safe at my apartment. Larry has been working on putting a little roof over my front door for this exact reason and he finished it last weekend.

Winter is here!

Snickers in the snow

It has been snowing like crazy here. It is really pretty. Unfortunately it is too powdery for snowballs or snowmen. It is kind of fun though. This picture is of Snickers, the Sullivan's dog. She is so funny. She loves playing in the snow. She's pretty cute too. Well, I really don't have a whole lot to say but just thought I would post this picture and let you know what was going on.

It's Friday

Well, I'm running out of clever titles to use, so sorry if they sound boring. Actually, I don't think I ever really had ANY clever titles, so I guess you're not missing anything. Well, it's the end of the week and it's been a good week. I guess it was a pretty normal week. Although, you would be proud of me, Mom, because I cleaned my apartment thoroughly and it is pretty much spotless right now. My room could still use some work, but at least you can see the floor now. I have some piles going on in some corners, but it's a lot better than what it was. It seems like basically since Thanksgiving I've been running around like crazy and I think that's why my room got so bad. Now things are slowing down and getting back to normal so my room can go back to order now.

Quote of the day: I don't know if I will keep this up, but I found some funny quotes online and maybe I will share some every once in a while. Today's quote is:

Whenever you read a good book, it's like the author is right there, in the room, talking to you, which is why I don't like to read good books. -- Jack Handey Deep Thoughts

Ok, that was pretty silly, but funny. I'm not really sure what to write about today. Sometimes it's kind of hard to really write about what I'm thinking or feeling on this thing.

Oh!!!! I'm so silly, I forgot to mention that Karen Neel is here!!! She arrived yesterday around 4:30! For those of you who don't know her, she lived here in Chemnitz for 6 years and she went back to the States for about 3 1/2 or so. She missed it so much that she wanted to come back! She will be teaching English once she is all settled and everything is figured out for her. She is staying with me right now and so it's fun to have a roommate again! If you still don't know her, her mom is Wanda Neel who works in the Business Building at OC. She most recently lived in Edmond and attended Memorial Road Church of Christ. Anyway, I met her on my first campaign to Germany in 2001, which was the same year she moved back to the States. She is a great gal and I know we are going to have fun together! Please pray that she can get all the details worked out for her plans to stay here! I'm not sure what all she still needs to work on, but I'm sure she could use the prayers!

Ok, well that was about all the news I have for now and so I wish you all a wonderful weekend!

Lady In Waiting

Hi friends! Does anyone even read this?? I was just wondering. Ha ha, I have no idea. It snowed a little bit earlier, but not for long and now the sun is out and shining bright and has melted anything that even tried to stick. Larry said this is like the month of April. There is a saying that I have heard several times because of my name: "April, April der weisst nicht was er will." (I hope that is right) It means: April, April (s)he doesn't know what (s)he wants. (Technically it is in masculine form because the months are masculine. Don't ask me why.) This is in reference to the weather.

I'm reading a book called "Lady In Waiting: Developing Your Love Relationships" by Debby Jones and Jackie Kendall. I recommend it to any women who are single, dating, engaged, or even married. The main point of it is to develop your relationship with God first before your relationship with a man, boyfriend or spouse. Here are some favorite quotes from the book that I have read so far:

"Lady in Waiting is not about finding the right man, but being the right woman."

"A woman becomes a woman when she becomes what God wants her to be."

"Happy indeed are those people, married or single, who have discovered that happiness is not found in marriage but in a right relationship with God."

"No one, not even the man you will marry one day, can make you happy--only Jesus can."

"God knows that you will never be complete until you really understand that you are complete in Jesus."

"When two 'incomplete' singles get married, their union will not make them complete. Their marriage will be simply two 'incomplete' people trying to find completeness in one another."

"If the Lord wants to give you a man, He does not need your clever 'chance rendezvous.' This is not advocating that you avoid men completely and expect the Lord to 'UPS' His choice to your front door."

"Even though Ruth was young in her faith in the God of Israel, she chose to trust with her heart for the future her eyes could not yet see."

"Datelessness is a common type of debris that irritates the 'eyes of faith,' but the eye wash treatment--quality time with Jesus and reading His Word--is always effective."

"If Jesus wants you married, He will orchestrate the encounter."

"Are the sands of singleness causing you bitterness right now, or are you allowing these trials to change you into a pearl? The Lord wants you to be a Lady of Virtue--a costly, beautiful pearl for all to admire."

"As you set your attention on developing godly character, Christ will change you into the beautiful princess He created you to be."

"Are you becoming a virtuous woman that a man may need as a helpmate? Are you using these days to develop godliness in order that, if asked, you will be ready? Whether you marry or not, every woman should seek the virtues of Christlikeness."

"God's Spirit, however, produces true inner beauty, as you confess your sin, avoid displeasing God's Spirit, obey even the slightest of His promptings, and give the Holy Spirit full control of your life. Pearls of godly character take time to develop, but how blessed is the woman adorned by them."

"When you love someone, you give them your heart, the center of you being. God asks for no less. He desires a totally devoted heart."

"Do you know God in a way that causes Him to be an intimate, personal part of your being as you may desire a husband to one day be?"

"Sin is far more repulsive to God than even onion breath is to a sweetheart."

"You are the one who determines the depth of your relationship with God."

Well, those are just some really good points that I have read so far. Maybe I can put more in as I read it. I hope they can be encouraging to you no matter what your "situation" is.

Trying to Keep Up

Lately I have begun to think about wedding plans... ahhhhh! It's so exciting and yet so overwhelming at the same time. I know that after all is said and done though, the details won't matter and the most important fact will be that Clint and I will be married! Wow, it's still amazing to think of all the things you have to do though. I'm very blessed to have a lot of good friends and family that are helping me with everything.

I've been feeling a little under the weather this week. I mostly have cold symptoms: nose and sinus congestion, sneezing, watery eyes... etc. but thankfully I was able to pick up some Claratin at the military base over Christmas so hopefully it will help me.

Just from talking to a few friends lately I realized that I had never really made an official announcement that my sister is pregnant! I know I told some friends, but it's so hard to remember who I have talked to and who I haven't when I don't get a chance to talk to all of them on a regular basis. Anyway, she is about 6 months along I believe. She is due on March 30th. They are pretty sure it is a girl and are planning on naming her Ashlyn Denese Freeman. I'm so excited to be an aunt! Anyway, hopefully that covers all my bases.

I hope you are all having a great week and if anyone has any advice on planning a wedding, let me know! I can use all the help I can get!